Stardust
by Salamander27
Summary: "I believe in you, Natsu," Lucy told him. "I have always believed in you ever since I joined the guild."
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! This is my first fanfic. I'm a huge Fairy Tail fan and I just love NaLu! I hope you all like it!**

**I am publishing this on my birthday, hehe. I hope it works out. **

* * *

_"The One Magic is the origin, the source of all magic," she said with a beautiful but knowing smile, her words holding a deep meaning._

* * *

A blonde haired girl with chocolate brown eyes was walking back home with a cheerful smile on her face. Lucy was very happy today. After all, she had managed to buy the latest bestselling book written by her favourite author. It was almost time for lunch, and she made up her mind to at least read the first chapter before she ate.

She reached home, and opened her door, only to find two creatures lying on the couch.

Lucy controlled her anger at the sight of Natsu and Happy. It wasn't the first time they broke into her house. Her anger quickly dissipated when she noticed how glum their faces were.

"Natsu, Happy, is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Happy rose from the couch and flew to her. "It's horrible, Lucy," he cried. "There's no hope!"

"What do you mean? What happened?"

This time Natsu spoke. "You have to help us, Lucy!"

Happy hugged her. "We have no money, and we haven't eaten since morning!"

"Give us food!" Natsu pleaded.

"This is not a restaurant, you morons!" Lucy yelled as she kicked them both on the face.

After she calmed down, she said, "If you want food, I'm sure Mirajane would give you some. Just go to the guildhouse."

Rubbing his face, Natsu broke into a grin which always reminded her of sunshine. "But we wanted to eat with you."

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

She placed her hands on her hips as she stared at their smiling faces, and sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'm starving as well. Let's go!"

As they went out, Lucy placed the newly bought book on her bed. _Friends are more important, _she told herself with a fond smile. _I can read it any other time. _And they headed to a nearby restaurant.

Lucy narrowed her eyes as she watched Natsu and Happy eat all the food they had ordered. The amount of food the two were eating could have fed at least fifteen normal people. Or maybe more.

It reminded her of the first day they had met, and she had taken them to a restaurant just like today. She smiled to herself.

"Why are you smiling like that Lucy?" Happy asked in the middle of the eating. "It's creepy."

Lucy grinned darkly. "I'll show you creepy. Watch your back, cat."

After they were done eating, Happy dozed off in Lucy's lap. She patted him softly on the head.

"Thanks a lot, Lucy," Natsu said, grinning brightly with one hand on his bloated stomach.

"You don't have to thank me," she told him.

"You are right. I can pay you back by protecting you forever!"

She couldn't help but smile at that. "Idiot. You have always protected me. I believe in you. I have believed in you ever since I joined the guild. You're my special friend, Natsu."

He leaned towards her and raised his hand to pat her. He didn't say a thing. But that small gesture was enough for Lucy.

* * *

_Someone watched the blonde and the pink haired boy from the shadows._

_"Target spotted," a voice murmured quietly._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone! Thank you all for following, favoriting and reviewing ****_Stardust_****. I'm so glad you liked it! **

**Here's Chapter 2 :D**

* * *

Natsu and Lucy headed back to the latter's home. Happy was sleeping soundly in Lucy's arms. She cradled him like a baby. They reached the house.

Natsu started climbing up. "Come on, Lucy! Keep up with me!"

"I'm sure as hell not climbing up to my room!" Lucy yelled incredulously. "Can't you use the door like a normal person?"

But he had already reached and was inside her house. Lucy sighed and walked into her house. She opened the _door_ and found Natsu sprawled on all fours on her couch.

Suddenly, she felt a change in the air. It hit her like a powerful wave. Happy woke up with a jerk, feeling the same thing Lucy did. Natsu jumped out of the couch and was aware of an eerie power all of a sudden. But they didn't see anything.

And then the room was covered in darkness in an instant.

Lucy couldn't see a thing.

"Lucy!" Happy shouted. "Stay close!"

"Who are you?" Lucy heard Natsu growl. She reached out with her arms, and thankfully felt Happy's soft fur. Natsu appeared beside her as he raised his flaming fist.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled, charging at nothing but darkness. Lucy could feel the heat of his flames on her skin. "Show yourself if you're a man!"

"But I'm not a man," a quiet voice hissed from the darkness, making Lucy's skin crawl.

Natsu was getting irritated and was itching for a fight. He grinned. "I can see you."

Yelling "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame", Natsu again charged at nothing.

Lucy brought out a golden key. "Open! Gate of the maiden! Virgo!"

The summoned maid appeared. "Is it time for punishment, Princess?"

"Can you get us out of here?"

"I shall do my best." And with that Virgo started to dig through the ground, but for some reason, she couldn't.

"I am unable to dig our way out of the shadows," Virgo mused.

"What?" Lucy asked, shocked. "But how?"

"This is some kind of a magical trap," Natsu replied. "But there's something else."

"Yes," Virgo agreed. "It seems that the trap is closing in on us from all sides."

"Thanks, Virgo, you can go now," Lucy told her, and she disappeared. Lucy got her magical whip, River of Stars, ready in her hands.

Finally, they saw a dark being materialize in front of them. She was a petite girl with long black hair. Her dark bangs covered her eyes.

"A little girl?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Fire shot out from Natsu's mouth towards the girl at full speed, but she disappeared and reappeared behind them.

"Dark God's Bellow!" the girl yelled as a huge ball of shadows came out of her mouth. This little girl was a God Slayer!

Lucy quickly summoned Loke while Natsu countered the bellow with his roar. Loke helped Natsu by using Regulus Impact, one of his most powerful attacks.

The girl smiled as her bellow died out. "You are strong, but I'm not here for you."

Arms of shadows came forth and caught Lucy's legs and hands. Natsu, Loke and Happy shouted her name and rushed towards her, but it was too late. She was already engulfed by the shadows no matter how much she struggled to shake them away from herself. She felt her consciousness fade away.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor in her room, and Happy and Loke next to her. The girl and the darkness was gone. The sunlight coming from the window lit up her room. Everything around them was either charred or broken, or completely destroyed. But she didn't care about that.

Because she couldn't see Natsu anywhere.

* * *

_The girl appeared from the shadows with someone lying unconscious next to her. She knelt down on one knee._

_"I have brought him, my Lord," she said, bowing her head._

_"Didn't he give you a hard time when you travelled through the shadows?" a deep, authoritative voice asked._

_The girl looked at the unconscious boy next to her. "Not at all. He suffers from motion sickness."_

_The dark voice laughed, and then said, "Take him away."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! **

**As requested, I tried to make this chapter longer. I hope you like it!**

* * *

"And then I, Happy and Loke ended up back in my room. I searched around my house, but..."

Lucy's guild members stared at her in shock.

They were at the guild house, and everyone had surrounded Lucy to hear her out.

Everyone was there. They all were shocked as Lucy gave an account of what happened. Soon, their shock turned into anger.

"How dare they!" Erza roared.

"Our Natsu!" Mirajane followed as a very dark aura began to form around her.

Everyone started shouting one after the other. There was a loud chorus of "They'll pay for sure" and "He will be avenged". The shouting continued.

"Silence!" Master Makarov yelled. But it was of no use because no one heard him, or just ignored him.

Suddenly, a huge shadow descended upon the guild members, and they all looked at the monstrous form of the might third and sixth master of Fairy Tail and shrunk back in fear. The shouting stopped altogether.

"Now listen to me, you punks," the Master bellowed. "They won't be able to contain Natsu for long. We will make them pay, whoever they are. We need a plan. Messing with one of my children is the biggest mistake anyone could ever make!"

"Yeah!" Everyone agreed.

"Wait a minute here, Gramps," Gray said. He was standing away from the crowd with his arms crossed in front of his bare chest and was leaning against a pillar. "We don't have to worry about him."

"Gray!" Levy chastised him.

Many looked at him disapprovingly.

Juvia came to Gray's rescue. "My precious Gray means well! He is not bad at heart! You are all misunderstanding him!"

"Juvia, it's okay," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. He turned towards the others. "I think…Natsu can handle it. There's no one that he can't beat."

The atmosphere in the guildhouse changed once again when the guild members understood the true meaning of Gray's words. Everyone grinned, but tears threatened to fall from Juvia's eyes. "Natsu. Another… love rival?"

She imagined the connection in her head and began to sob as a love arrow from Natsu pointed towards Gray. Currently, arrows from Lucy, Lisanna, Juvia herself, Ultear and now Natsu pointed towards Gray. "So many. Oh, my Gray!"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Lisanna sighed. "That's not it, Juvia."

Master Makarov had returned to his original size, probably because of the scene in front of him and Juvia's vivid imagination. He coughed, and said,"Um, you may be right, Gray. But we must try from our side as well."

"That's right," Jet said.

"He has always been there for us no matter the consequences," Wendy said, choking back a sob.

"I hate to admit it, but it would be boring without Salamander," this came from Gajeel who earned surprised looks from everyone.

"That's true," Gray said. "Who would I pick a fight with?"

"I can't imagine Fairy Tail without him," Romeo said, looking down. Lucy patted his head.

Everyone raised a hand with their index finger pointing towards the ceiling.

"Let's save our Natsu!" they said in unison.

* * *

Half of the Fairy Tail members were out searching all around in Magnolia and other places, searching for Natsu. Wendy and Gajeel had gone with their exceeds, hoping to be able to smell out their pink haired friend. Happy had gone with them as well. Lisanna, Elfman and Mirajane took advantage of their Take Over magic to search for Natsu as well. Jet ran to the nearest towns. Warren tried to contact Natsu mentally, or at least pick up traces of his thoughts, but he wasn't able to. Lucy had sent Virgo to look for him. Laxus with his ability to appear and disappear with the speed of lightning also helped in the search. Bickslow and his 'babies' were doing their part as well. Juvia looked for him via water. If one of them found out something, they had to contact Warren so that he would let everyone know. But till now, he hadn't.

There were only a few who stayed back with Master Makarov.

"A Dark God Slayer?" the Master repeated.

Lucy nodded. "And I feel like I've heard this somewhere."

The Master gritted his teeth.

"What's wrong, Gramps?" Gray asked.

"A new guild had been formed recently," Master Makarov explained. "Rumour has it that it contains God Slayers. The name of the guild is the Dark Brethren."

"What!" Levy shouted, shocked. It was uncharacteristic of her to shout like that, and so it surprised Lucy.

But then Lucy remembered something. "Wasn't there a guild with the same name centuries ago?"

Master Makarov's expression turned grave.

"You don't mean…" Laki trailed off.

"It can't be, Master," Reedus said, shaking his head. "No way."

"I don't get it," Gray said, confused.

"I'll tell you," Erza said, who got up from where she had been sitting. "Five centuries ago, there was a guild called the 'Dark Brethren'. This guild had been infamous for all sorts of involvement with death and black magic."

"The guild weakened after two of its ace members were killed," Levy continued. "But it completely broke down when the master disappeared."

Levy shivered as if a horrifying thought had occurred to her.

"But we all know now that it's not exactly true," Laki said. "The events in Tenrou Island are proof enough."

"W-wait a minute," Lucy stammered. "What are you saying?"

Master Makarov finally spoke. "The master of the Dark Brethren was Zeref."

A shiver ran down Lucy's spine. Her eyes were wide with horror. Gray gritted his teeth.

"Do you think Zeref is behind Natsu's kidnapping?" he asked in a low voice.

No one answered him.

"I'll inform Warren," Master Makarov said, looking away.

* * *

_The dragon slayer opened his eyes slowly and found himself surrounded by darkness._

_"Where am I?" he wondered out loud, before he got up and started ramming his fiery fists around him._

_He tried for a long time until he was worn out. But that didn't stop him._

_"It's no use," a girl's voice said. The voice and the smell belonged to the same person who has attacked him and his friends. "This is a special prison made only for dragon slayers. Your powers are completely ineffective and useless in here."_

_Natsu felt his leftover strength being taken away from him. Something was absorbing his power._

_"Where the hell am I?" he roared. "What have you done to Happy? Where is Lucy?"_

_"It's only you," the voice said. "The Lord needs only you."_

* * *

**I'm sorry if this chapter was slow-paced.**

**I'm going to take a little more time for the next update because I'm busy this week. And don't worry, it will be a long chapter :D !**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I'm SO SORRY that this chapter took more time that I expected, but I really was busy! **

**I appreciate your reviews. I hope you really like this one. AND I made it longer than before, so enjoy!**

* * *

With the information Warren had received, he told Jet to go to the city of Laburnum. Jet enquired about Dark Brethren and looked around for it, but he couldn't find their guildhouse at all. No one seemed to know the location either.

Meanwhile, Master Makarov contacted Bob and Goldmine, the guild masters of Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus respectively, and even Yajima, a former member of the Magic Council. They hadn't the slightest clue either.

After two days, those who had gone searching for Natsu returned back empty handed.

"There wasn't a single trace of his smell anywhere," Gajeel said.

"It was as if his smell doesn't exist at all," Wendy added with a sob.

"I didn't get anything on Dark Brethren in Laburnum," Jet said with a sigh.

"I can't even get a hold of his thoughts," Warren told the others, immensely disappointed with himself.

"I hate to say this," Laxus said, "But it's like he has disappeared off the face of Earthland."

Levy removed her Gale-Force Reading Glasses, which allows a person to read books at an extremely rapid force, and turned to face everyone with a solemn look. "Not much luck here either. We've been reading the history of the old Dark Brethren for any hints, and all that we could conclude was that there might be descendants, as in the present Dark Brethren."

Lucy was wondering why Virgo hadn't returned yet. Virgo was looking for Natsu by passing through the gate with her own power, so Lucy didn't feel much drained. She wondered if the glutton for punishment had found something.

"We can't give up yet," Erza spoke in a loud voice.

"Of course we can't," Gajeel agreed with a grin.

Master Makarov watched all this with pride. He was delighted that everyone was working together so hard, but it was of no surprise. At the same time, he was immensely worried about Natsu. After all, like all members of Fairy Tail, he too was the guild master's child.

Laxus put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry too much, old man. He'll be back to spread chaos in the guild and fight."

His grandfather let out a shaky breath and nodded quietly.

All of a sudden, Lucy fell on her knees with her hands on the floor, holding herself up. Her whole body was shuddering, and she moaned, her face contorting in pain. Wendy immediately started using her Sky Magic on her while the others surrounded her, worried.

Levy put an arm around her. She was panicking. "Calm down! We're here for you!"

After a few minutes passed, the writhing stopped. She sat up.

"Thank you, Wendy," she said in a weak voice.

"What happened?" Gray asked me.

She put a hand on her head. "It felt as if my magic was suddenly drained for a moment."

Just as she spoke, Virgo appeared in front of her. Her clothes were in tatters, and she looked quite beat up.

"Princess, I…" she trailed off as she lowered herself in front of Lucy on her knees.

Lucy lifted her hands to Virgo's shoulders with concern for her beloved celestial spirit. "What happened to you?"

"I…I know where he is."

And then she disappeared.

"Where did she go?" Lisanna asked in alarm.

"She went back to the spirit world," Lucy explained. "Once we both gain our magic, she'll come back." After saying that, she passed out.

* * *

After half an hour, Lucy woke up and found herself on the bed in the infirmary. Levy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Gajeel, Happy, Charle, Pantherlily were there as well.

Gray smiled at her. "We're glad you're okay now."

"You had lost so much magic that it took a long time for me to help you recover," Wendy said.

"Oh, I see," Lucy said with a smile spreading on her face. "Thank you so much, Wendy."

She got up and sat upright on the bed. She still felt a little bit weak, but had enough magical strength to summon Virgo. She took out the spirit's key, and summoned her in a commanding voice. "Open! Gate of the maiden. Virgo!"

The said maiden appeared, now in proper attire. She looked quite healed as well.

"Take a seat," Lucy said, and the spirit did as she was told. "Now tell us everything, Virgo."

Master Makarov and a few others came in to listen to her.

"I was searching all around for Natsu," she started. "The last place I visited was your house, Princess. There, I felt a strange magical presence. This kind of presence cannot be sensed by mages and humans, but as I am a celestial spirit who can travel across realms, it was as clear as day for me."

Everyone listened to her intently.

"It was a portal to another realm," she continued. "This portal had been opened by that God Slayer at your house. I managed to open it, but it took away a lot of my magic. I reached the other world, and I think that's when you felt your power being drained as well. It was…"

Virgo frowned, which surprised Lucy because she usually never shows many expressions on her face.

"It was so bad that it made me sick," she said in a low voice. "It is a small realm, but it reeks of evil. Of darkness and evil. It makes me sick just to think about it."

"No kidding," Gajeel said. "I can practically smell it on you."

Virgo cringed at that. Lucy started to worry if her lovely maid was okay. Levy shot a warning look at Gajeel, who got the message.

Lucy put a hand on Virgo's. "Did you find Natsu?"

"There was a huge mansion," she said. "I could feel immense magic radiating from there, mostly evil. But there was another kind as well. It was very similar to Natsu's magic. It radiated goodness, but was diminishing little by little. It must have been him. Maybe when he was taken to that realm, all of his traces disappeared from here. Anyway, I had to come back to Earthland to prevent further damage to you."

Lucy closed her eyes. _What could this mean?_

"I fear someone was trying to suck out his powers," Virgo added lowering her head. "I should have been to your house in the first place."

"It's okay," Lucy told her softly. "Thank you, Virgo."

Virgo nodded.

Master Makarov had a grim expression on his face.

"Another world, huh?" Gray said. "That's just the kind of place Natsu would be taken to. I should have known."

"Now that we know where he is," Erza said. "We should go there immediately."

Everyone nodded eagerly.

Lucy nodded as well. "We must go right now. I will take us there with the help of Virgo."

"You should rest," Mirajane told her. "You have already lost too much magic."

"No." Lucy got out of bed.

"I can't let you do this," Levy said, keeping a restraining arm in front of Lucy.

"She doesn't have to do it alone," Wendy said. "We can all lend our magic to her. She doesn't have to be alone."

"You're right, little one," Laxus said.

"Gather all the members in the guildhall," Master Makarov commanded.

"Aye, Sir!" Happy said. There were tears in his eyes.

* * *

Every single member of Fairy Tail had assembled.

Master Makarov had explained the situation to them. "I have decided. According to Lucy, not everyone can go. Her spirit cannot transport everyone as it would drain all our powers immediately. I feel the strongest members should go with her."

He called out the names. "Erza, Gray, Wendy, Gajeel, Mirajane, Elfman, Juvia, Lisanna, Laxus, Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen. And me."

Happy nudged him.

Master Makarov then said, "The three Exceeds shall go with you as well. Is that okay?"

Virgo, who was next to Lucy, said, "Yes, though it is a bit too much, I'm sorry to say. It will definitely take a toll on everyone here, but I will try my best."

The chosen members gathered around Lucy and Virgo.

"Everyone, centre your magic on them," Levy said. Everyone did so.

Each person could feel incredible amounts of magic as they combined their powers. There was enough magic for Virgo to transport them. Since she now knew how to go to that dark realm, she could transport them from anywhere. It was because she didn't belong there that it took so much energy.

Finally, she was able to transport them. Lucy and the others felt fine, and were hoping that their other members were too.

And soon, they sensed what Virgo had been talking about.

This world was too sickening. Too dark. Too evil. There was no sun, and only darkness. The place was nauseating. The plants around them were almost dead and dried up. They soon spotted the mansion which was as huge and dark as Virgo had described.

"I felt this sensation," Elfman said. "Back in Tenrou Island when we first encountered Zeref."

Evergreen nodded in agreement. "And he had been acting as if he knew Natsu. I wonder if all this is related."

_Oh, Natsu, _Lucy called out to him in her mind, as they ran to the mansion, _Please be safe!_

* * *

_"Had enough, you worthless Dragon Slayer?" Adam, the Metal God Slayer, hissed. Even though he said that, he was very impressed with the amount of magic this pink haired guy had. The latter was trapped in Lennox's Shadow Imprisonment. There was no escaping from that._

_He really did prove to be the right candidate, just as the Lord had said._

_"I-" the dragon slayer had started to say, before he started coughing badly. _

_After it stopped, he said, "I…won't give up. My friends…will come." And then he glared at the God Slayer and roared,"And once I'm out of here, I'm going to make you pay!"_


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys!**

**I can't even begin to tell you how much happy you have made me by reviewing, following and favoriting Stardust and me. To be honest, I almost cried xP. Okay, not almost. Maybe one or two tears. Or more.**

**This is the first time that I have exposed my writing out to the public, and I am so glad that people actually like what and how I write. Thank you all so much! **

**And here's Chapter 5. I hope you all like it, and I'm looking forward to read more reviews and critiques! I absolutely love to read them!**

* * *

As Natsu's rescue team made their way towards the mansion, they had to fight small creatures made of ashes and shadows. They were easy to beat down, but there were surprisingly many of them. And plus, the Fairy Tail wizards could feel their magic being sucked in slowly. It could have been those creatures, or the darkness, or the dark realm itself. Whatever it was, it was just nauseating.

The only source of light was the light from the stars above. The dark creatures were materializing just from the shadows and the dead plants, Lucy noticed. Maybe if they had more light…

"Open! Gate of the Lion!" Lucy said while holding a golden key. "Loke!"

The blonde heartthrob produced a bright light from his ring, Regulus. The creatures in front of them vanished. He kept making them vanish until they reached the mansion.

Wendy had to take deep breaths just to calm herself because of the tension and the horrifying feeling coming from the building. This mansion was the source of the radiating blackness. It reeked of pure evil. It was affecting the Fairy Tail mages both physically and mentally.

"It's…suffocating…" Juvia coughed out.

"Are you sure Virgo didn't make a mistake?" Pantherlily asked.

"No," Gajeel answered. "This is the right place. Despite all the stinking darkness, I can smell him."

"I can too," Wendy said. She seemed more determined than ever.

Elfman and Evergreen couldn't shake the fact that the place not only reeked of darkness, but also death, and most importantly, Zeref.

"Let's go," Lucy spoke after a few seconds. "We can't waste any more time. I have a very, very bad feeling about this."

Loke looked at her worriedly. "You must preserve your strength, Lucy. I'll take my leave now."

With that, the loyal spirit disappeared. And indeed, Lucy did look like she was about to collapse.

Wendy went to her. "I can help you."

But as she raised her hands, Lucy stopped her. "No. Don't waste your energy on me. I'll be fine, I promise."

"Let's go," Laxus said. "You don't have to use your magic, Lucy. Leave this to us for now."

Everyone smiled encouragingly. And together, they opened the door, and stepped into the mansion.

There was no light inside. No surprise there.

Laxus let out a huge wave of electricity all around him to light up any existing bulbs. Thankfully, a few bulbs did light up which enabled everyone to see their surroundings.

"Good work, Laxus," Master Makarov praised him. The Thunder Legion started fawning over him.

They looked up and gasped as they saw many flights of stairs above them.

"This is going to be a long day," Charles, the cute little white Exceed, said with a sigh, when suddenly, her eyes were wide open, and she became still as if she was in shock.

Wendy looked at her in concern. "Are you okay, Charles?"

"Uh, yes, Wendy," she reassured her. "I'm just worried."

Wendy doubted that she was only worried. In fact, she was certain that Charles just had a premonition. And by the look on her face, it must have been something bad, so Wendy decided it was best not to talk about it. It wasn't as if it could change the present or the future.

They all froze when they heard the sound of someone clapping.

Two bulky figures appeared in front of them out of nowhere. Though the lights from the bulbs were dim, it was enough to see their faces.

The one with brown hair was clapping. The other one with light green hair stood silently next to him. The members of Fairy Tail looked at them cautiously.

"Okay, now I'm really impressed!" the brown haired man said with a vicious grin. "To think you managed to come till here. That's something!"

No one said a word to him, and instead, just kept glaring at him.

He chuckled. "I'm Flint. And this is my brother, Truman."

Lucy noticed the mark on the side of his neck. The mark was of a snake encircling the crescent moon.

"It was there in the book," she told her friends. "That mark on his neck - that is the insignia of Dark Brethren!"

Truman's grin widened at that. "You got that right. And if you didn't know this already, we both are God Slayers!"

"Where is our friend?" Erza asked in a low and quiet voice. A dark aura had suddenly surrounded not only her, but all the members of Fairy Tail.

"Now, now. You don't have to be so cold-"

"Where are you keeping him!" Erza shouted.

Flint smirked. "Why do you want to know? He's as good as dead, anyways."

Lucy clenched her fists, wanting to punch that smirk of his face. "Why, you…"

The green haired man, the one name Truman spoke. "We can't just give away our secrets now, can we?"

"Then we'll force them out of you!" Laxus roared while he charged at them with his power.

Truman and Flint dodged him.

"Earth God's Vine Imprison Technique!" Truman said.

Laxus was suddenly wrapped by thick, dark wines, but he broke out of them easily by summoning lightning bolts to cut through the wines.

"Go!" he told his friends. "I'll take care of them! Go get Natsu!"

His friends hesitated, but started climbing up the stairs.

"Oh, no, you don't! Rock God's Bellow!" Flint yelled, as a pillar of black, pointy rocks spewed out of his mouth towards Fairy Tail. But the attack was blocked by a humongous fist.

"No one hurts my kids," Master Makarov said in a deadly voice.

"We will fight by your side, Laxus," Freed said, standing with Evergreen and Bickslow behind Laxus.

"No," Laxus told them. He smiled. "Trust me. I and my old man can take them down."

"But-" Evergreen started to say but was cut off by Laxus.

"You have to save Natsu," he told them. Master Makarov was currently fighting the brothers. The others had already started climbing up the stairs. "Trust me."

"…We do, Laxus," Bickslow said. With that, they left Laxus and Makarov to join the others.

"Let's do it, Gramps," Laxus said with a smile.

* * *

"Wendy," Gajeel called her. "Let's go ahead with Lily and Charles."

Wendy and the others agreed.

"I'm coming as well," Happy said.

"I'll go with Happy," Elfman told his friends.

"Be careful, Elfman," Mirajane told her little brother.

He nodded in response. "You're looking at a man!"

The six of them went ahead with the Exceeds.

It felt like ages as they climbed up the stairs, and they still hadn't reached the top. They had been climbing for a very long time.

Erza seemed unfazed, but the others were starting to get exhausted.

"What is this?" Evergreen muttered in a weak voice. "So many…steps…"

"I hope Laxus and Master are fine," Freed said, worried.

"Don't worry…about them," Gray said, grinning and panting. "They'll…be fine."

They saw a brilliant light shining from beneath them.

"That must be…Fairy Law!" Mirajane said.

"Victory is ours," Lucy said, smiling confidently and determinedly.

"Not quite," a velvet soft voice spoke. They turned and saw a beautiful brunette in front of them. She was smiling slyly at them.

The Dark Brethren insignia was on her left arm.

Everyone prepared to attack her.

"The victory is not yours," she said. "Let me show you."

She formed a screen – a lacrima-vision – which showed the unconscious bodies of Flint, Truman and…Master Makarov. Laxus knelt beside him, but he looked half dead as well.

But he had used Fairy Law. This woman should have been defeated as well.

The lacrima-vision disappeared.

"What…happened…" Lisanna whispered.

"Fairy Law doesn't work here," the woman explained. "The brightness was just too little compared to this vast and endless darkness!"

"It's not possible!" Gray snapped.

"Oh really? Anyway, I'm Elena."

"We don't care who you are!" Erza said, or rather barked, almost losing it. "Why have you taken our friend? What are you planning to do?"

She grinned devilishly. "To initiate the last step of the resurrection, of course."

"Resurrection?" Gajeel asked, appearing out of nowhere with Lily, Wendy, Charles, Happy and Elfman.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lisanna asked them.

"We kept going up," Gajeel said. "And up and up and up. It was even more than how much we saw from outside. There's something fishy going on. So we came back down, but it surprisingly took only a few seconds to reach here. This place is messed up."

Suddenly, they heard Laxus' voice from below. "We beat them! Gramps is down, but don't worry. You guys just keep going!"

"Okay!" Elfman screamed down to him, and then suddenly froze. "Wait a minute…"

"We climbed up a lot of steps," Lisanna said.

"So why does he sound so close?" Erza wondered.

The woman Elena giggled. "Haven't you realized it? Such ignorant fools! This whole thing is trap! Once you have entered, you can never turn back! You can see the ceiling but you can't reach it. No matter how much you climb, you will be closer to the ground! This is the power of Romelius!"

"Romelius." Lucy whispered in horror. "One of the members of the original…Dark Brethren. Impossible…"

"What did you say?" Erza asked, her eyes widening in shock.

And then, Elena shouted, "Water God's Water Scythe!" and slashed her arms at them.

A huge wave of black water came out of her arms, but the tremendous attack was stopped by Juvia's Water Slicer.

"Huh? A water mage?" Elena hissed.

"Water Jigsaw!" Juvia said as a huge column of swirling bright water appeared out of her hand and hit Elena directly.

Notably, it was one of her powerful attacks. The water soon started to clear away, though, and Juvia realized in shock that Elena was actually swallowing her water.

She cackled like a witch. "You are no match for me!"

"All of you, go!" Gray shouted. "I and Juvia will take care of her!"

Juvia looked so happy at what he said. "I shall fight beside my precious Gray!"

The others did as they said.

"Be careful, Gray, Juvia," Erza told them. She was worried. Normally, she wouldn't be this worriedly, but something about this place just did not seem right. To think even the Master's Fairy Law had had no effect on them…

As they went up, they encountered another enemy. One Lucy and Happy were familiar with.

"Hey, Lucy, look!" Happy said. "It's her. The one who kidnapped Natsu!"

It was the Dark God Slayer. The petite girl with black hair.

"This girl's name – I mean my name is Lennox," the girl said.

"Hey, you!" Mirajane snapped at the girl. "Give us back our friend!"

Bickslow widened his eyes when he saw what he saw. He could see two souls; one was small, while the other was big and dark.

"She's possessed by something," he said in a low voice so that only his teammates could hear him.

Lucy took out Loke's key. "Fine then, let's-"

"We'll handle this," Bickslow said.

"That's right, leave it to the Thunder Legion," Evergreen told them.

"Minus Laxus, that is," Freed added.

"We'll make him proud!" they said in unison. "We'll make Fairy Tail proud!"

Their friends smiled at the trio, and continued climbing the stairs.

"What else do you know about Romelius, Lucy?" Erza asked her.

"Not much," she answered. "Only that he was one of Dark Brethren's strongest member. But he had dark magic similar to Zeref."

"But how can he be alive?" asked Wendy.

"Zeref is alive, too," Mirajane said. "Why not his members?"

* * *

**I hope it wasn't too long. I enjoy writing all this so much! Thank you again for your support!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Chapter 6, here it is!**

**I am so in love with NaLu and Fairy Tail. I wait for every Friday for the new chapter as if my life depends on it. I know that many of you feel the same. And I just can't wait for the anime to be back on track.**

**I actually started watching Fairy Tail just in March 2013. And then I was completely hooked. I used to watch several episodes a day, and finished watching all 175 episodes+OVAs+Movie in about two months by either downloading them or watching them online. I'm still rewatching them every day and treasuring the epic moments. I have started following the manga after where the anime left off. It's a miracle that I'm not blind or wearing glasses or something. I have cried and laughed so much in this anime/manga like never before. It has changed me and taught me so much. I feel like I've become a different person. This fanfic is not only my first time, but also a tribute to this beautiful anime/manga. I thank Hiro Mashima from the bottom of my heart for creating such an epic and amazing manga, and also for introducing these completely lovable characters like Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, heck, everyone in Fairy Tail and other guilds too.**

**Anyway, sorry to make you read all that, lol xP**

**And I'm sorry it took so long to update. I'm not good with fight scenes, and I surprisingly took a hell lot of time working on them. I hope it came out right.**

**Thank you for all your support, and please review if you must! I absolutely love reading them! :D**

* * *

"Oh, how daring," Elena the Water God Slayer said to Gray who had taken his shirt off.

Gray narrowed his eyes, already aware of what was going to happen next.

A certain bluehead was emitting dark vibes at Elena. "Another rival? Juvia will fight for love!"

Gray sighed. _Here she goes again._

He wasn't a fool. He was aware of Juvia's feelings towards him despite the way he acted. Honestly, she was different than anyone he has ever met.

"Is that so, you filthy Seaweed?" Elena hissed. "Water God's Whirlpool!"

She formed a massive, swirling vortex of black water which looked like a whirlpool of petrol.

"How dare you insult her!" Gray shouted at the God Slayer. Juvia looked at him in surprise. Her heart fluttered at what he just said.

"No one insults Fairy Tail and gets away with it!" He added before using his ice magic to freeze the whirlpool.

Juvia turned back to normal. _Of course. My dear Gray thinks of me as his friend, nothing else. _

Surprisingly, the whirlpool didn't freeze.

"What the-" Gray cursed, while Elena laughed.

"Your magic is worthless against mine!" she said. "This is the water of the Water God. You can't just freeze it!"

Gray gritted his teeth. The black whirlpool had become even bigger than before and was headed straight towards the pair.

Juvia raised her clenched fist and made a punching motion. "Whirlpool!"

_She's going to create her own whirlpool to counter it? _Gray thought in shock.

Sure enough, Juvia created her own whirlpool which was as big as Elena's, and then both whirlpools collided with each other.

Water and black fluid splattered all around them and on them.

"The whirlpools," Gray murmured to himself, brushing off the liquid from his bare chest. "They cancelled each other out."

"Not bad, water mage," Elena told Juvia.

Juvia smiled determinedly. "I would have to say the same for you, God Slayer."

_Yes, she is very, very different, _Gray thought to himself. _But I like that about her. _

The thoughts were accompanied by feelings of fondness and warmth.

He stood next to her, both of them ready to attack. "Juvia, let's beat her already. Ice make: Lance!"

"Water Nebula!"

Gray created a big and long Ice Lance which moved to where Elena was standing at the speed of light. She managed to dodge it. Gray kept using his Ice Maker magic.

Two magnificent waves shot out of Juvia's hands with a tremendous force towards the God Slayer.

She was dodging it well. None of their attacks were able to touch her.

Gray decided it was time for hand-to-hand combating. She was excellent at that, but not as good as Gray, and just when he had her cornered, she yelled, "Water God's Bellow!"

A spiral column of black water shot out of her mouth and at Gray. It was so fast he didn't even see it. The Bellow hit him right in the stomach and sent him flying backwards, out of the staircase.

"No!" Juvia shouted. But she didn't have to worry, because with his magic, he made it back on the staircase.

However, Elena took advantage of the distraction.

"Water God's Dark Enslavement Technique!" the enemy said. She summoned big tentacle-like things that travelled so fast that she didn't even realize it until she was surrounded by them.

With a huge, devilish grin, Elena screamed, "You're done for now, Seaweed!"

The black tentacles completely devoured Juvia and she was not seen anymore. Gray did not know what to do. He couldn't attack those monsters because he might end up hurting Juvia.

Soon, those tentacles began to shrink. Gray went to it and started punching it.

"Juvia!" he yelled. "I know you can hear me! You can free yourself, I know it!"

And then suddenly, something watery was on his hand. He looked at his hand in shock as water had surrounded it. Gray's eyes widened as he realized what it was. It was Juvia's hand. He caught hold of her hand as she somehow made her way out of the enslavement. She was out completely, and the tentacles disappeared. Juvia stood in front of him, completely transformed into water. He released her hand and grinned.

"How…is it possible?" Elena said in horror.

"A full body transformation," Juvia told her with a smile. "Sierra."

"Water God's Water Scythe!" Elena screamed and started slashing her arms repeatedly. Sharp waves formed just like before. But Gray countered them all by making many Ice Saucers.

"Juvia, now!" Gray told her as he released another Ice Saucer.

Juvia then attacked with Sierra. She attacked Elena with such tremendous speed that Gray almost couldn't see her at all. Elena didn't see it coming either. Sierra was definitely very effective and incredibly powerful. Juvia hit Elena like a shooting star and sent her flying up in the air. Elena fell and crashed on the staircase.

She twitched a little before collapsing.

"I hope she's not too hurt," Juvia murmured as her body turned back to normal.

"You were great!" Gray praised her, as he came to her and raised his hand. She blushed and they both high-fived.

* * *

"I know what to do," Bickslow told his friends. "I need time. Keep her busy."

He started concentrating, and so did his dolls.

"Fine," Freed said.

"This better be worth it," Evergreen warned him.

The Dark God Slayer gave an evil smile. "Fools."

"Dark Ecriture: Pain!" Freed said as he wrote runes to attack Lennox.

She didn't try to dodge it. If anything, she only smiled wider.

Nothing happened. The attack did not work.

Freed was surprised but he didn't give up. "Dark Ecriture: Fear!"

She didn't move. It had no effect.

"What the…"

"Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!" Evergreen said as she surrounded Lennox with dust particles and ignited them. There was a huge explosion around the girl, but as the dust faded away, she was still standing, and still smiling. She was slowly walking towards them.

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Evergreen waved her arms releasing a torrent of energy needles made from concentrated dust. She doubled the number and the speed of the needles.

Lennox deflected all the needles with just a swipe of her hand.

Evergreen gasped. "What is she?"

She let out a dark chuckle which seemed too deep for a girl. She attacked Evergreen suddenly and clutched her throat. She was too strong, and Evergreen was not able to breathe.

She tried using her stone eyes on her, but it didn't affect her. Her eyes widened in horror.

Lennox grinned. "Harbinger of Death!"

Tears came to Evergreen's eyes as she stopped struggling and just stared at Lennox in fear. She was shaking. She could feel her life force being taken away slowly. Lennox was…killing her.

But the link broke as a monster-like person with long green hair pushed Lennox away from her.

Evergreen held her throat and tried to catch her breath. "Took you long enough, Freed! She almost killed me!"

Freed had turned into a demon. Dark Ecriture: Darkness. He had written runes on himself to transform into a demon. This was a forbidden magic, and the last time he used it was during his fight with Mirajane.

"Darkness Breath!" Freed said, and a tornado made of dark energy was formed.

"Fairy Ray!" Evergreen formed rays composed of Fairy Dust and sent them towards the tornado.

"Special Attack: Fairy Tornado!" Freed and Evergreen shouted in unison.

There was a huge explosion, and this time, it had affected Lennox. She was on her knees.

"Don't ever underestimate Fairy Tail," Freed told her in his demonic voice.

"Move aside," Bickslow said.

They turned to look at him. He had removed his metal visor from his eyes. His eyes were glowing in an unearthly way, and the expression on his face was severe and grim.

They did as he said. Freed turned back to human.

Bickslow went to Lennox and stood right in front of her. He raised his palm at her, and his dolls formed a circle around it and started moving within it.

"Seith Magic: Exorcism!" he said. A massive light appeared at his hand and descended upon Lennox. She was immobilized and completely shocked.

Bickslow could slowly see the darkness detaching from Lennox's soul. He was using up too much power for this, and was completely drained when it was over.

He collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. His clothes were in tatters and his dolls were destroyed by the impact. Lennox was lying in front of him, looking quite beat up.

"That was amazing!" Evergreen said. "But what did you do?"

"I removed… the dark soul possessing her… through exorcism," he replied breathlessly. "I'm sorry it took so much time. It's just that I never tried it before."

Freed laid a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "You did well, Bickslow."

Evergreen raised a fist. "We were totally awesome!"

Bickslow and Freed smiled at her.

They felt movement from Lennox.

She opened her eyes. The look in her eyes startled the three. There was innocence in her eyes, and fear. She was a child, after all. Probably the same age as Wendy.

She started shaking and sobbing. Tears ran down her cheeks.

"Thank you," she told them. "You freed me."

They just stared at her silently.

"You saved me…" she continued. "From Romelius. He was the one who had possessed me. We…resurrected him. We kidnapped the Dragon Slayer to use his magic as a power source to resurrect Aurelia. The traps have been removed. Please…You have to…stop them…" And then she fainted.

"Aurelia…" Bickslow repeated the name. "I wonder who that is."

"Probably another member of the original Dark Brethren," Freed replied. "Like Romelius."

"She said they were using Natsu to resurrect her."

"This is bad…"

Freed helped Bickslow to stand up, while Evergreen carried Lennox on her back. "Let's take the poor girl with us."

"We can't trust her, Ever," Freed told her.

"I know. But she was controlled by Romelius."

"Let's go save Natsu," Bickslow suggested, and the victors ascended the stairs.

* * *

"When are we going to reach the end?" Lisanna asked.

"That Water God Slayer had said the stairs was a trap," Lucy said. "We'll just have to find a way out of it."

They suddenly heard a rumble. The stairs started to shake.

"What is happening now?" Mirajane asked.

Erza held her ground. "An earthquake?"

Then they saw what was happening. The staircase was splitting into two.

Everyone quickly moved away, except for Wendy who was too slow. She screamed as she fell down the crack.

"Wendy!" they screamed their beloved Dragon Slayer's name. Happy flew down to save her, and soon he came back up with Wendy.

"Thank goodness!" Charles said going to Wendy.

"Good job, Happy!" everyone praised him, including Charles. He started to blush.

Lucy said to Happy, "You liiiiiiiiike her."

"Shut up!" the blue cat said, irritated that she managed to make him taste his own medicine.

Wendy hugged him. "Thank you!"

They were standing at a fork. There were two different staircases now.

"We'll have to split up," Erza said. "We can't waste any more time."

Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Gajeel, Charles, Happy and Pantherlily took the left staircase while the Strauss siblings took the right. The latter group claimed they would be fine with just the three of them and they would protect each other.

* * *

Erza and her group reached a huge door.

"Do you think the trap was removed?" Lucy asked.

"That seems possible," Erza said.

"Maybe the Thunder Legion or Gray and Juvia managed to do something about it," Gajeel suggested.

"Let's go in, then," Pantherlily said.

And so, they opened the door and marched right in.

Lucy's mouth opened wide in shock as she took in the sight before them.

A completely beaten up and unconscious Natsu was lying on a platform with tubes stuck into his arms, his legs and his chest. Heck, he was actually bleeding all over and was moaning with pain in his unconscious state.

And beside him was a woman, and the tubes seemed to be connecting her and Natsu. She was sitting upright at the moment. She had long silver hair and was beautiful, and she wore a lovely gown. She smiled devilishly at them.

Standing near them was a huge blonde haired man with a crazy grin. They both had the Dark Brethren Insignia on them.

Lucy and the other could feel the dark magic radiating out of the two of them.

"So these are the intruders!" the blonde said maniacally. "And they even managed to remove Romelius' trap!"

Instead of saying anything, the seven members of Fairy Tail rushed towards their dear Fire Dragon Slayer. Tears were coming out of Wendy's eyes, while Lucy clenched her fists tight.

"Natsu?" Lucy called out to him. "Open your eyes! Natsu!"

"Hey, you flamehead!" Gajeel said. "How much are you going to make us worry? Snap out of it, damn it!"

Suddenly, they were all pushed back with a tremendous force caused by a metal rod.

The blonde laughed. "Lady Aurelia would finish you in a second! But she doesn't have to waste her time on you!"

Lucy widened her eyes at the mention of the woman's name. "Aurelia was also a member of the original Dark Brethren."

Her friends all looked at the woman in shock.

_She was a member of the Dark Brethren and had worked under Zeref._

Gajeel gritted his teeth. "Damn it."

The silver haired woman said, "Take care of them, Adam."

Just as they got up, Adam yelled, "Metal God's Bellow!" A huge thick rod of molten metal came out of his mouth and towards the Fairy Tail members.

Gajeel came in front, and yelling, "Metal Dragon's Roar", he breathed out metal which countered the God Slayer's Bellow.

Gajeel looked at Natsu's half dead body. His fists clenched, and feelings of immense hatred and vengeance started seeping into him.

Gajeel walked towards Adam, the Metal God Slayer creep. "I'm all fired up."


End file.
